Cons:

Last October, I got a special sneak peek at Crackdown (touted as the newest sandbox shooter from developer Dave Jones' Realtime Worlds), but was not terribly impressed. From what I played at the hands-on event, all the elements were in place, but the targeting was finicky (frequently targeting already slaughtered foes) and the framerate occasionally dropping to unacceptable chugginess. Well, I've had a review build of Crackdown for almost a month now and had the opportunity to play it online with real Xbox Live customers, and I have to say that there is no better argument for tempering hands-on previews by acknowledging the possibility that even shaky-looking titles can shape up into wonderful successes.

Super robo E-SWAT

Just like some of Dave Jones' earlier creations (I imagine you've heard of Grand Theft Auto?), Crackdown boasts a wide open world for you to exact your more violent tendencies on. So, as you might expect, you get a large library of firearms to choose from that vary in rate of fire, accuracy and destructive power. As you progress through the game's decently sized Campaign mode, you'll run across thugs from different gangs that carry newer and more exciting weapons, but the real twist to Crackdown is the character enrichment system (which is also probably the most addictive part of the game as well).

No matter which of the different avatars you choose, each comes with five different attributes to build up over time: agility for jumping high and running fast, vehicles for driving skill, strength for brute force attacks, demolitions for things that go "boom" and firearms for accuracy. All of these attributes are increased by using them, so if you can jump to the top of a very tall skyscraper, you'll most likely find a little agility-boosting token as a reward. Use your abilities enough and you'll see them improve - there are three levels of greatness that you'll reach in each attribute. Every time you achieve a new level, there is an instant and obvious upgrade to the attribute. So upon earning a new level of agility, you'll notice the intensely gratifying difference in both the heights that you can reach and the speed you can run. Couple your progressive abilities with the absurd number of hidden tokens stashed throughout the three embattled neighborhoods, and you've got yourself a recipe for addictive gameplay.

Of course, none of this would make any difference in how much fun Crackdown is if the issues I encountered at the hands-on way back in October were still present. Imagine my surprise when I found that they had been completely eradicated in the final build. The targeting system has been much improved, and while you'll still find yourself uselessly targeting the occasional corpse, it probably won't happen often enough to rob you of the sheer enjoyment of spewing bullets into criminals. The framerate has been improved as well, and Crackdown now sings along at a brisk number of frames per second (although it does slow a bit when you unleash a titanic amount of damage - like setting half a city block aflame). Color me delighted, whatever doubts I may have had about Crackdown have been utterly shattered.